Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1887-01-11
BENEATH THE NATIONAL
washington star.

ulous smile on the Star mans oounie-
nance. "You don't think II likely. but
| could lose you 90 ,ha, you would never
find your way out. I could hiie away
half Of Congress and they couldn't tell
where they were after taking turn or
two. Come and I'll show little way
into the lsbyrin,hs." And he led the
way. followed by the scribe, under the
srea, stone stair. case into the dark vaults
below the basement Of the building d.
ree,ly under the crypt. The heavy
vaul,ed walls frowned down upon dark
asgs,ones. and there seemed to be no
opening In the solid brick and stone ma
sorry to admit light or air. Light Is
furnished by gas jets, which burn dimly
from their long oonhnemen, under ground.
The walls are massive. and Gloss ,ose,h.
or, and the arches are built {. TO gath
sr up all their strength to supper, the
tremendous weigh, Of the dome piled
above them. The vaults within con.is,
Of narrow passages between heavy ma
sonry.
"Kno~ledss Of the upper floors said
the architect. would be Of no assistance
in 6nding the way through these vaults.
Under the dome the passages are narrow
and circular. and under other portions OF
the building they are full Of abrup, sn-
giles. The wall. DO no, At all follow the
lines Of those above. a. IL usual In build
ins., for the ra.on ,ha, when the found.
alton Of the two halls vas laid the plan
in contemplation va. very dideien, from
that which was finally adopted. After
the foundations were laid President
Pierce placed the construction 10 charge
Of the war department., and JEFF Davis,
Who ". then secretary Of var. changed
the plsn sn,irsly. no, hking the one
adopted Thi. Involved the building OF
q Few set Of foundation walls. but the
old one, ~eie no, removed. This leaves
q numbered narrow passages without any
par,ieul. aim OF direction. and make, q
psrfee, mare full Of crooks and erAnnies
that would be~ildsr one 70, familiar
With the place. and /, would be difficult,
fof bin 10 find bis way out should be
venture too f.r."
All the space under the Capitol i' hon.
syeombsd by these dark narrow passages.
which ATE used generally fof store rooms,
and are % dark and deaih.lise a. TO
make one ,huddsr a, the idea Of being
Loot there. for cry would be desdened
.gsin., the heavy walls.
The space jus, benss,h the center Of
the dome. which !. directly in froni Of
the entrance 10 the vault. i' the niche
provided Coz holding the remains OF
w.,hing,on. but which. in compliance
With hi. rsqgs., before death. WAS never
used. Ia ihi, IL tie bier uPon which
hi, remains were laid IN state. and which
.fisfwAid, performed the same service
for Iineoln. Thad Sisven', Charlie. Sum
nsr. Chief Justice Chase. and hnally
Jane. A. Garfield.
Nothing ba, the pine PlAak' remain.
you ,ee." .Aid Mr.. CLARK. breaking .
silver OF the side. II, used TO be COW
cred with black cloth. and bad ornament.
AZ each Of The four corners. bu, they have
been torn away by relic hunters.
Another ehlmbsr under the dome.
following the outline Of the ro,gnda IN
the form q "a arch. is used a. store
loon. and i. full Of old plaster e.,ins'
Moulds aud castings Of al the fancy
scrolls. moulding. aud ornament. used In
The interior decoration Of the building
a., piled away In here. lti'onlJ by booking
q, ihi. pile Il plaster iha, the immense
amount Of The interior decoration 81 The
building can be appreciated. Here may
be found scrolls. nymph'. aud 's'yr',
birds aud ho~,r piset'. ,hs, one nigh,
look In vain for In The building. bad
away. {. they ATE. ia the angles and
arches Of the grea, hall. aud lost in the
immensely Of the structure. Standing
IA a dark corner Of the vault, like sghos,
Psring out Of the daiknt'' from behind
a veil u eob~sb.. !, the original u the
statue Of Hamilton. which occupies a
place 10 Echo hall. A statue Of Liteoln
stand. ogi from another eofnsr.
"Thi. s the ban.l place Of dead
statues. and the architect the Goddess Of
l.itsriy-,ke plaster cast q the oae on
the dome, buried here; there aFe los
Of relic. Ia that pile Of plaster - there
lie. the a,he. Of att. That statue Of
Lincoln once occupied a place ia the io,'
and.. /, WAS made by = Mr.. Elliot.
who disappeared after leaving u here.
and We couldn't fnd him. Th.isI bus,
Of Cha,e-,ha, one ell covered With cob
web. and da., can YOU see IL Long
eide ,ha, plaster man, With straw hat
cooked on one eide Of bis head - some
ose's been dressing bin of. That's
some Of Stone. work Bu, come II We
stop here time We won, have TO 10 through
the other vaults. Oh. there's the Cod
ds.s; we had TO take her all TO pieces TO
get her in here. There. that's her shield
its much taller than you ATE. That
big thing there. her arm. You can ge,
some Kind Of notion how biz she ia.
"Bu, Cow where are yOu," he said,
stopping after taking few turns. "lts
kind OF be~ildering Amt H. Well We
hsvn't gone anywhere yet. IL had
time would show you all through. but
I've 70, TO &c, back to my Office. and II
| left you to 20 on alone you nigh, be
late for your dinner" be added banter.
ingly. "we'll 90 through some other
time. The space further on there Is full
Of newspaper files and books from the
library they haven, room above 30 they
have 10 store some here. All the space
under the supreme eour, and the old Hall
Of Representatives !. used for storage.
Then there's part occupied by the ma
ehinery Of the heating and ven,ils,ing sP.
para,us."
"Bu, i.n', i, very damp for looks ?"
asked the scribe.
81, used to be very damp. bu, have
managed TO &c, /, above dew point. and
it's as dry nov as any other par, Of the